Does exposure to radiation emitted from mobile jammers influence the spatial memory?

Abstract

Background: The central nervous system is sensitive to radiation exposure as environmental pollution. This project aimed to evaluate the influence of jammer exposure radiation on spatial learning and memory. Materials and Methods: 50 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. The experimental groups were exposed to jammer radiation for 2h/day once or 2h/day for two weeks. Sham groups were similar to the experimental groups which were exposed to switch-off. The distance from the jammer router to the animals' cages was 30 cm. In the second phase, using Morris Water Maze, the effect of jammer exposure radiation on spatial learning and memory was studied. Results: Data showed that radiation exposure once a day for 2h caused a significant increase in the learning procedure in the experimental group1, but we observed an increase in the parameters of distance and escape latency in finding the platform for two weeks' exposure in the experimental group 2. Conclusion: Results indicated that probably the motivation of escape and use of the different cues led to learning in the animals, while disrupting mobile performance through jammer router from animal environment caused a better brain performance in the spatial learning and memory in short term jammer radiation-treated animals group. However, with the same test conditions, in long term jammer the radiation-treated animals' motivation reduced, which affected the responses and performance and reduced the learning. Moreover, environmental conflicts such as radiofrequency waves lead to behavioral alternations.